Sudan’s Burhan Urges President Trump to Intervene and End Devastating Civil War

By : Mweru Mbugua

Sudan’s army chief and de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has appealed directly to US President Donald Trump to help bring an end to the country’s brutal civil war, now in its third year

In an op-ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, Burhan urged Washington notably President Trump to take a leading role in pushing for peace between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo

Burhan wrote that the Sudanese people “look to Washington to take the next step… to work with us  and those in the region who genuinely seek peace  to end this war,” praising Trump as a decisive leader capable of confronting foreign actors allegedly fueling the conflict

Since April 2023, fighting between the SAF and RSF has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 12 million people, and triggered the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis

Multiple international mediation attempts  led by the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt have faltered, with both sides repeatedly stalling ceasefire talks

Burhan has long accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF, claims the UAE has consistently denied

While he avoided naming the country directly in the op-ed, he blamed unnamed foreign powers for prolonging the conflict

President Trump publicly commented on the Sudan war for the first time last week, saying he could bring it to an end

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His remarks came after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who reportedly urged him to intervene

Burhan said many Sudanese believe Trump has “the resolve to confront the foreign actors prolonging our suffering”

The US determined in January that the RSF had committed genocide in Darfur a finding that elevated international pressure on Daglo’s forces

But the SAF has also been accused of atrocities, including indiscriminate shelling and attacks on civilians

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Burhan and Daglo were once allies, jointly removing Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government in 2021. Their power struggle ultimately erupted into full-scale war on April 15, 2023

Calling the RSF a “powder keg,” Burhan said he had long recognized the risk posed by Daglo’s forces, originally militia fighters contracted to fight in Sudan’s peripheral regions

With the conflict now grinding deep into its third year, Burhan’s appeal signals renewed attempts to draw stronger US involvement and a desperate search for any leverage that could halt one of the world’s most catastrophic wars